Summary

In Chapter 14, Swiv and Elvira returned to Canada. Elvira was taken by ambulance from the airport to the hospital. Swiv told Elvira she had “a fire inside her” and she had to “keep it going” (225). Elvira was partly unconscious. At the hospital, Swiv called Mooshie and then locked herself in the bathroom, where she fell asleep sitting on the toilet. She awoke with Mooshie and an orderly standing in front of her. Mooshie and Swiv found Elvira, who had regained consciousness. Swiv told Mooshie that she was strong. As they waited for Elvira to be moved to the cardiology wing of the hospital, Mooshie did a crossword puzzle. One of the answers was “John Steinbeck,” and Elvira recalled a scene from The Grapes of Wrath in which a pregnant woman miscarried and then breastfed a man who was starving. Swiv asked Mooshie if...